Orly : Iron Butterfly

I'm thrilled to show you a lemming I got ahold of not too long ago; Orly Iron Butterfly! I believe it was released in 2009, it was part of a collection of three metallic mattes called Metal Chic. It wasn't until April this year I saw it, looking through old Orly collections online to see if there was anything I missed. It was love at first sight. And this polish (and hunt for the same) made me realize once again how madly obsessed I am.

Iron Butterfly

Iron Butterfly is a black-ish base packed with silver shimmer. It's kind of like Suede polishes from OPI, being that it's heavy on shimmer and dries matte. It must have loads of dupes, but I wanted this one... Call me crazy. I'm curious to see how it compares to Manglaze's version, but I don't own theirs.

When I started obsessing about nail polish, I wasn't too keen on Orly bottles. The design just didn't look good to me, lol! They are very practical and so easy to handle, which is the most important part doing your nails anyway ;) And I must admit, having obtained this lemming, I found myself admiring the bottle picture I took. Doesn't it look just ever so slightly magical? The shimmer shines through the matte bottle... ♥

Anyhow, once I fell in love with swatches, this polish was hard to find. I didn't find a single bottle on Ebay or Transdesign, and my heart sank a little. I knew it would turn up on ebay eventually but I wanted it like yesterday, lol. I desperately started to search the internet for small nail polish stores, and I found it in SpiceBeauty UK's webstore.. I believe it was the last bottle, even - I call it meant to be, LOL! ♥

This polish has an amazing formula. Even though it's matte, it's very easy to work with - and if you're good at levelling out layers, one will do the trick. I used two to protect my nails, after all I was going to leave it without topcoat. I used NailTek II basecoat as usual, and it didn't give me any problems :)

 I decided to add an accent finger, I'm really starting to like wearing those! I love the colours I chose, they are a great combination though it does look like a bugger from a long distance LOL. Oh well ;)

I used OPI Stranger Tides & Mermaids Tears, Gosh Yellow Doll and Essence Stamp Me! in white and black. I sealed the owl with Fast Forward, so in real life it's glossy (and the black and white dragged a bit, urgh!) and is a great contrast to the base.

I'm loving mattes/suedes right now, and have a few more on their way to me. I think I'll be wearing mattes a lot this season, it's a nice change from jellies, sparkles and shinies!

Do you like Iron Butterfly, or is it old news? I've only been nail polish obsessed for a year so I have a lot of catching up to do ;) Is there any mattes/suedes I should get before they vanish from shops?

♥ Vetten

OPI : Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow (+suede scotch accent finger)

Wow, it's been a while since my last post! The past weekend has been very busy, celebrating birthdays Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, working, cleaning and preparing like mad on Friday.. It was a blast, but I'm totally exhausted after it lol.

While I was celebrating my boyfriend and mum, I didn't have time to change my manicure so I was wearing a silver chrome with a crackle on top. The result was a bit sloppy so I didn't take any pictures ;) I finally had time to change my manicure, and I took one look at my untrieds and knew I had to try the original version of Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow from OPI.

Aragon is an incredibly dark forest green polish with subtle shimmer. It's almost black, and I'd say it's a jelly with creme tendencies, it took me three coats to cover my nails. The shimmer is very subtle, but you can just make it out in direct sunlight. It should not be your reason for purchasing this baby though, or you would be severely disappointed. In my book, the shimmer is a bonus, not a necessity.

I used two coats of my preferred basecoat, NailTek II (I'm hoping that using two coats from now on will help minimize the yellow tint to my nails - they are very yellow, sadly), three coats of Aragon and one coat of China Glaze Fast Forward. 

Aragon is very easy to work with, and applied like a dream with very little clean-up for me to do. Sadly, I rushed the layers too much and was left with a huge amount of bubbles. Luckily, Fast Forward took care of them for me :)

Here's the most colour accurate picture I took - and shimmer showing!

Here Today.. Aragon Tomorrow - direct sunlight

And here's a picture showing the accent nail I did - having both versions of Aragon I simply had to play with it, even if just a little.

Here Today.. Aragon Tomorrow + suede accent nail - lightbox, natural light

Personally, I couldn't love this manicure more. It's simple, green and super shiny ♥ I admit that I was totally biased, wanting to love it made me work harder to make it work ;) The name and colour is what won me over, it's very hard to love through swatch pics, as it looks so black. Unless you're a hardcore dark green lover and jelly tolerater/lover like me, I don't think Aragon will do much for you - it's not a perfect green creme but it will work if you love it enough and have the patience for three coats.

What's your opinion about Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow? Do you own it, the suede version or both? Which is your favourite version? If I had to choose, I'd go for the Suede version (and I just might have to get a back-up of it, I love it so much), but I'm really glad to have both and will be using them combined again :)

♥ Vetten

Quick NOTD: Here Today.. Aragon Tomorrow suede

Hey girls!

I've been super busy today, been to school and looting from my local drugstores. GOSH make-up were reduced 40% so I had to hoard a few extra of Holographic for Summer, and I also bought something else I've been experimenting with today, which I'll feature soon in a post.. Franken style!

I forgot to take a bottle picture of the beauty I've been wearing for the past 3 days. In fact, I'm still wearing it, as I love it so much! Even my dad complimented it, LOL, I think he like the subtleness for once x) Here's a mani shot I did when I applied it ~

OPI Here Today.. Aragon Tomorrow Suede

Besides for some minor chip wear, it looks pretty much the same today ♥ I love it so much!

I used my regular basecoat, 2 coats of Aragon Tomorrow (and added a coat of Essie Matte About you to prolong wear, after the pics were taken. It didn't make any difference to the finish IMO). This polish is special to me, because LOTR has a special place in my heart ♥ The colour reminds me of the brooches the fellowship wears in the movie. It kind of makes you feel like part of the gang, right? LOL, maybe that part is just me! All that aside, the polish is pretty darn gorgeous! Shimmers look super pretty with a matte finish.

I've been thinking about doing a theme week (as I loved Ulmiels Illamasqua week). What would you guys like to see? I can do a brand theme, a colour theme, finish theme... You name it! 

♥ Vetten